Intel’s 11th Generation Core ‘Tiger Lake’ Central Processing Units are the 1st to feature Intel’s latest united Xe graphics architecture. Just like laptops built around these CPUs will go on sale in various parts of the biosphere, Intel has disclosed that few of them will further ship with its 1st distinct GPU, the Intel Iris Xe Max. In a surprising statement, the company has also disclosed information on how laptops can use united and separate Xe GPUs together to upsurge graphics performance and hasten specific types of compute-intensive or Artificial Intelligence-based tasks.
The Intel Iris Xe Max name 1st leaked when the company comprised the product badge in a presentation of Intel’s brand identifies renovation in September. Lately, it has been seen in listings from laptop producers, comprising of a recent Acer laptop launch declaration.
The Intel Iris Xe Max GPU is based on the same Xe-LP GPU as the integrated GPUs in 11th Gen Core Tiger Lake processors. It is aimed at thin-and-light laptops and can work in aggregation with an integrated GPU. This is empowered via a software framework that the company calls this Deep Link. The primary applications that can be augmented by “stacking” the proficiencies of GPUs include Artificial Intelligence inferencing as well as video encoding.
Image from Intel
Deep Link is also able to dynamically manage power and thermal headroom between the GPU and CPU, resulting in a claimed 20 percent improvement in CPU performance when the GPU is idle. This is similar to AMD’s SmartShift power optimization feature.
Intel has claimed up to seven times faster Artificial Intelligence-based content creation on the 11th Gen Core i7-1165G7 CPU + Iris Xe Max GPU compared to a laptop with a 10th Generation Intel Core i7-1065G7 CPU and Nvidia GeForce MX350 GPU. As for media programming, the company has said that it has achieved 1.78X improved results than with a Core i9-10980HK and GeForce RTX 2080 Super (MaxQ).
The Iris Xe Max GPU features up to ninety-six execution units which are similar to the top-end integrated implementation but have 1.65GHz of maximum clock speed. It powers Intel’s 10-nanometre SuperFin transistor technology. It can leverage PCIe 4.0 speed to connect to the Central Processing Unit and has an LPDDR4X memory of 4GB with 68GBps of bandwidth. Up to 4 displays can be run instantaneously over HDMI 2.0b, DisplayPort 1.4, or internal IP. Variable-rate shading and adaptive sync are reinforced.
If we talk about gaming performance, the Iris Xe Max is ranked against GeForce MX350 entry-level discrete GPU of Nvidia, so users can hope to play comparatively contemporary games at 1080p at medium to low settings with frame rates which are above 30 frames per second.
Acer, Asus, and Dell have concurrently revealed the 1st laptops that have Iris Xe Max GPUs. The Acer Swift 3X, Asus Vivo Book TP470, and Dell Inspiron 15 7000 2-in-1 are all going to go on sale in every part of the world in this year’s November.
Intel had long ago assured to introduce a discrete GPU in 2020 to overhaul its integrated and discrete graphics abilities. It has hired AMD’s Radeon graphics chief and many other significant executives. The company is also dedicated to launching a high-end gaming GPU for desktop PCs at its current Architecture Day event, which will support hardware ray tracing and manufacturing at a 3rd-party foundry. Integrated Xe GPUs are also arriving at the desktop initiating with 11th Gen ‘Rocket Lake’ CPUs in 2021.
